Was Mary the most tragic character

First she gets kicked by a horse

She goes blind

She has a miscarriage

She is in that accident with Adam and that pregant woman. And will most likely be burned alive if her father had not come.

She is close to being raped. I mean assume that was the plan of of the man when she was in the closet in the episode were she and Laura was held captive at the blind school. If her father had not come she would probably have been raped.

She has a child and the child dies in a fire



Well maybe tragic is not the right word to use. But she seems to have the most things go against her.

The real Mary only went through what would be minimal tragedy in her life, but the effects lasted the rest of her life.  She went through scarlet fever with her family and in later years, went blind.  None of the other things listed happened to her.  Laura on the other hand, had a child die, had her home burn to the ground, her husband turn up ill; which resulted in a stroke, when recovered, he needed a cane to help him get around, and other sad things......



Since Michael Landon took many liberties with the story lines of the TV show, I'm guessing he wanted all the characters to have good story lines, and for some reason, felt MSA was suited for drama; which she proved she could handle.  I noticed a lot of the stories that were being shown, dealt with things that were happening in the news at the time of filming.  Rape, kidnapping, fires, illness...etc.

Well i was referring to the Mary on the tv show. And not the real Mary Ingalls

Yes, I know, that is why I mentioned how Michael Landon took many liberties with writing the shows stories.  

I often wonder if he took some of the tragedies in Laura's real life and wrote them for Mary in the TV show.

Here is an excellent summary of Mary's life:  Character Profile of Mary Ingalls Kindall  

Thanks for sharing that character summary, Rhonda. I have also felt that Mary dealt with more than her share of tragedy--as you can tell by my summary. But I also believe that any difficulties she faced gave her a great deal of strength and faith.

I'm not sure they knew what to do with Mary after her suffering almost every tragedy going.

I'm rewatching the whole series (out of order) as just got the boxset and I think it was a shame they gave Mary no happiness after the birth of her 2nd baby.  The fire death of Adam Jr. was just poorly planned and thought out.

I remember she suffered a lot.  I think it would have helped the show's longevity at the time if they had thought of more happy plotlines for Mary to go through.  Instead of killing Adam Jr. off, they should have had him live. Having Adam Jr. live would have made the promise of "The Wedding", where Mary was worried about having a sighted child, come to fruition.  After the fire to the blind school, Mary and Adam's stories seemed to be all about the next tragedy, accident, or health issue.  And the way they said goodbye to Mary and Adam at the end was really tragic too, the last 2 episodes in which they appeared were really not a properly written goodbye in my book.   I wonder what could have been a lot of the time, had the fire two-parter not have been written.

Thank goodness for fanfiction!

I wish they hadn't killed off Adam Jr. They could have not had the fire. Mary did seem to have a lot happen in her life. Getting kicked by a horse, going blind, suffering a miscarriage, learning her eye sight will not ever return and losing her baby in a fire. MSA was not happy about how she was written in the season 8 episode, A Christmas They Never Forgot. She barely had any lines and was billed in the closing credits. Same thing in part 1 of The Reincarnation of Nellie.She should have billed as Special Guest Star. Mary sure was strong and brave for everything she went through.

Shell wrote:

I wish they hadn't killed off Adam Jr. They could have not had the fire. Mary did seem to have a lot happen in her life. Getting kicked by a horse, going blind, suffering a miscarriage, learning her eye sight will not ever return and losing her baby in a fire. MSA was not happy about how she was written in the season 8 episode, A Christmas They Never Forgot. She barely had any lines and was billed in the closing credits. Same thing in part 1 of The Reincarnation of Nellie.She should have billed as Special Guest Star. Mary sure was strong and brave for everything she went through.

I saw that interview.  When I watched the episode where she and Adam get into the stage after their goodbyes, he looked like he was visibly sad that he was leaving as well.  I don't know why they treated Melissa Sue and Linwood with such a horrible sendoff story, they were responsible for acting in the highest rated episode in LHOTP history!

I think her character overall ended up happy with her life with Adam. They portray a happy couple in " A Christmas They Never Forgot" very well--the little we see of them. There was one interview with MSA where she said it was unfortunate her decision to leave LHOP cost Linwood his job. I always liked them together.

bethandmanly wrote:

I think her character overall ended up happy with her life with Adam. They portray a happy couple in " A Christmas They Never Forgot" very well--the little we see of them. There was one interview with MSA where she said it was unfortunate her decision to leave LHOP cost Linwood his job. I always liked them together.

I saw that interview. I thought they were so sweet I wanted to see more story where they were incorporated before they left. I think the show may have lasted longer had she and Linwood been given better stories. Probably could have had a story where they are faced with raising a sighted child.